In an open letter sent to President Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s most famous prisoner and activist Narges Mohammadi said that the people's vote was not to support the regime but rather to enforce the law and fulfill the demands of civil society activists in the country.

“Many Iranian citizens who strongly criticize the Iranian regime, as well as your government in the political, economic, social and cultural fields, have gone to the polls to declare that they are demanding the implementation of laws that are the demands of the people,” Mohammadi, deputy head of the Center for Human Rights Defenders, told Rouhani from her prison in Tehran.

Mohammadi, 44, was found guilty in May 2016 of “establishing and running the illegal splinter group Legam”, a human rights movement that campaigns for the abolition of the death penalty. She is currently serving a 16-year jail sentence.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei confirmed just before the presidential elections that the identity of the candidate who will win the presidential election in Iran was no the priority, “but more important is that the primary winner is the regime”.

“The government must know that the participation of the people will not be limited to attending the elections, our borders and our rights are more important. We have the right to establish institutions, newspapers and assemblies, and a genuine independent and non-governmental activity without being accused of complicity against national security,” Mohammadi also said in her letter.